Attack On Jerusalem Graves Unnerves Christians

JERUSALEM (AP) – Christian leaders in Israel are up in arms over a string of attacks on church properties and religious sites – most recently the desecration of a historic cemetery where vandals toppled stone crosses from graves and broke them to pieces.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says four young Israeli settlers from the West Bank, two of them minors, were arrested last week in connection with the vandalism in the Protestant Cemetery of Mount Zion, but were released without charge until further questioning.

Israeli media have said two of the suspects were students at a nearby Jewish seminary known for its ultranationalist views.

The attack is the latest incident involving Christian sites that have been vandalized within the past year. They include a Trappist monastery outside Jerusalem where vandals burned a door and spray-painted “Jesus is a monkey” on the building, other monasteries and a Baptist church in Jerusalem. Clergymen often speak of being spat at by ultra-Orthodox religious students while walking around Jerusalem’s Old City.